Diesel car drivers face paying higher road tax or even additional levies when they travel into town and city centres as car pollution levels are tackled, it is reported.

Major cities around the UK are considering bringing in low emission zones to force out older diesel vehicles that are responsible for higher levels of fumes, according to The Times.

Almost all diesel vehicles driven into central London will trigger a £10 charge under plans being considered by mayor Boris Johnson, who will also reportedly lobby the Government to increase road tax on diesel cars to encourage motorists to move to cleaner vehicles.

The £10 fee, which would come into effect in 2020, would be on top of the congestion charge, forcing diesel drivers to pay at least £20 to drive into the capital’s “ultra low emission zone”, the newspaper said.

Only diesel vehicles meeting the Euro 6 emissions standard will be exempt, while petrol cars registered before 2006 will also have to pay.

Labour is reportedly planning a countrywide network of low emission zones to force older diesel cars from city centres, proposals which are being considered by more than 15 cities. Oxford has already introduced a zone for buses and may expand its plans for other vehicles.

The initiatives are being considered to help meet European regulations on clean air and avoid the threat of heavy fines for breaching them.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said that unless action was taken, London, Birmingham and Leeds would face dangerous levels of pollution from vehicle exhausts by 2030.

In Wales, the Welsh Government hopes to relieve a major bottleneck in one of the country's most heavily populated areas by building a new motorway.

In London, Mayor Mr Johnson is expected to outline plans that will take the city two thirds of the way to complying with EU rules, The Times said.

The mayor’s environment adviser, Matthew Pencharz, said: “We want to see an unwinding of incentives that have driven people to diesel. Euro engine standards on emissions have not delivered the savings expected, meaning we now have a legacy of a generation of dirty diesels.”

RAC Foundation director Professor Stephen Glaister said: “This isn’t quite a mis-selling scandal, but for years ministers took their eye off the ball and encouraged drivers to buy diesels to help fight climate change. That has come at a cost: local air pollution. Today 10 million cars in Britain are powered by diesel engines - a third of the total.

“Part of the problem is regulation. In laboratory conditions diesel cars have met strict test criteria. Unfortunately that performance hasn’t been matched on the road and now we have a significant health issue because of the dash for diesel.”

AA president Edmund King said: “It is somewhat ironic that cars are banned from the most polluted street in London – Oxford Street. The vehicles that have most effect on air quality in London are buses, taxis and trucks.

“The first move should be to target the gross polluters and get them off our roads in order to have a greater and more immediate impact on air quality.”

He went on: “Drivers are confused as to what vehicles to buy due to mixed fiscal messages from governments over the last decade or so. The goal posts seem to have moved from CO2 (carbon dioxide) to NOx (nitrogen oxides) without fully informing the players.

“At least drivers are being given six years before their cars get a red card. Very few cars enter central London so these measures will have more effect on the growing numbers of small businesses and service vehicles on whom London’s economy relies. They will have to plan ahead to change their vehicles if they are to stay in business.”

WalesOnline is part of Media Wales, publisher of the Western Mail, South Wales Echo, Wales on Sunday and the seven Celtic weekly titles, offering you unique access to our audience across Wales online and in print.